A few year ago I had some dealings with a former
submariner that lived in Deale Md. He told me a crazy story (that is probably
not true but I’ll relay it anyway). He “matter of factly”
told me that the Nautilus was not the first sub to reach the pole but was given
credit as being the first for some sort of political reasons. He went on
to say that a sub called “skate” was actually first. Again, I have
no reason to believe this but he sure told the story like HE believed it.
Greg Cottrell
Project Manager
http://www.precisionplastics.com
P please consider the environment before printing this email
From: owner-
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010
9:47 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Does
anybody have a copy of this book?
I don't have the book you reference but in the book
titled "The Last Emperor Hubert Wilkins -
there is a chapter titled "The voyage of the
Nautilus" that covers this episode in which an old WWI submarine was
used in an ill fated expedition to explore below the North Pole in
1931.
This
book is very good read and a true story. Even though Wilkins
is largely unknown to the world, the US Navy held him in such high esteem that
they conducted a covert operation at the height of the cold war in which the
USS Skate commanded by Captain James Calvert March 17, 1959 surfaced at the
North Pole to deliver the ashes of this man who was neither an American nor
ever served in the US Navy.
Cliff